Huntington Ingalls Industries informed that the amphibious assault ship America (LHA 6) will sail away from Ingalls Shipbuilding on Thursday destined for the West Coast and her Oct. 11 commissioning ceremony in San Francisco.
Ingalls personnel and America crewmembers will be available for interviews. Sailors will “man the rails” in their Navy whites when the ship departs.
LHA 6 is the first ship in the U.S. Navy’s new America class of amphibious assault ships. She is 844 feet long and 106 feet wide and displaces 44,971 long tons. Her fuel-efficient gas turbine propulsion system can drive the ship in excess of 20 knots. She can accommodate 1,204 crew (102 officers) and 1,871 troops. America is capable of carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit, including Marine helicopters, MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotor aircraft and F-35B Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) STOVL aircraft.
[mappress] Press Release, July 09, 2014; Image: Wikimedia